Bartók’s Mikrokosmos is one of the milestones in the pedagogical piano repertoire – and yet it is also far more than a “classical” piano primer. These 153 piano pieces, organised in ascending order of difficulty, engage not only with technical aspects of piano playing, but also with the fundamentals of composition – from “Ostinato”, “Free variations” and “Imitation and inversion” concerning compositional technique, to programmatic ideas as in “From the diary of a fly” or the famous “Six dances in Bulgarian rhythm” that form the passionate close of this unique work. This Henle Urtext Edition is based on the corresponding volume of the Bartók Complete Edition that is currently in preparation, and also includes specific practical comments and tips concerning Bartók’s own performances. Furthermore, the six volumes of the first edition, which first appeared in 1940, are here gathered together in three practical double volumes that offer both beginners and advanced pianists a perfect introduction to this work.
G. Henle Publishers stands for Urtext sheet music of the highest quality. The Urtext editions not only provide the undistorted and authoritative musical text but are also aesthetically pleasing, optimised for practical use and extremely durable. And then there is the strong, distinctive blue profile: (almost) all of the Urtext editions are bound in the characteristic blue cardboard.
Musicians trust Henle's blue Urtext editions because they:
- provide an undistorted, reliable and authoritative musical text
- offer superb, aesthetically appealing music engraving
- are optimised for practical use (page turns, fingerings)
- are of high quality and durable (cover, paper, binding)
- contain a short preface that introduces the work (particularly useful for AMEB exams) in German, English and French, as well as explanatory footnotes for particularly interesting passages in the score
- contain a description of the sources, an evaluation of the sources, readings and a documentation of the corrections made (= "Critical Report") in German and English, and often also in French
